Monday

May 30, 2011 at 9:51 PM

AMARILLO - Firefighters doused hot spots and battled flare-ups all day Monday, hampered by intense heat, strong winds and hundreds of onlookers a day after wildfires northwest and south of Amarillo destroyed 13 homes. At the same time, homeowners began sifting through the ashes.

Blazes erupted Sunday afternoon near Pitt Road in the Tangle Aire neighborhood south of Amarillo and in the Woodlands and Cliffside neighborhoods in northwest Amarillo.

The Pitt Road complex fire started in a home at 13500 Pitt Road, Randall County Fire Chief James Amerson said. The cause of the fire had not been determined Monday. Four homes and several outbuildings were destroyed in the blaze.

Johnny Scott, 2810 Rocky Road, lost two workshops.

Scott, who did not carry insurance on the shops, said the destruction devastated him. The fire also destroyed his brother's home, next door at 2900 Rocky Road, Scott said.

James Scott was out of town about 6 p.m. when the fire burst out of a canyon south the brother's properties.

"The sheriff parked down there and walked up the street, telling us to evacuate," Johnny Scott said. "It came out of the canyon so quick I barely had time to let my dogs out."

She said the local chapter will begin distributing aid at 9 a.m. today at its headquarters, 1800 S. Harrison St.

The Red Cross operated two shelters Sunday. A receiving area was set up at Cowboy Church on South Washington Street near Loop 335 for those affected by the fires south of town. A shelter was organized at Grace Church on Plains Boulevard near Western for those affected by the Stoneridge fire.

"We originally set up at the Church at Quail Creek," Riddlespurger said. "But the smoke was getting thick and the fire was close so they moved us to Grace Church."

Two people spent the night at the Grace Church shelter The Red Cross closed the shelter Monday morning. A handful of people went to the Cowboy Church receiving area. It was empty Sunday night and closed at 10:30 p.m.

"This is by far the busiest wildfire season I've seen since I've been with the Red Cross," said Riddlespurger, who has worked at the Amarillo chapter since 2005. "We haven't stopped since Feb. 27. It seems like every weekend we're responding to a fire somewhere."

While Red Cross volunteers canvassed the Woodlands and Cliffside neighborhoods, exhausted fire crews moved frantically to douse flare-ups and monitor hot spots. In the afternoon police urged curious onlookers to stay out of the area to keep roads clear for firetrucks.

In the relative quiet before dawn as firefighters took a breather and cooler temperatures subdued the threat of flare-ups, Janet and Wick Culp stood in their driveway looking over the rubble that was their home about 12 hours before.

The fire that claimed their home started after a car caught fire about 6 p.m. at Loop 335 and Ninth Avenue, said Tim Evans, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman. The blaze spread into dry grass and quickly swept into the Woodlands and Cliffside neighborhoods.

"We're still pretty numb about it," Wick Culp said. "We had a lot of family things in the house."

The Culps had lived in the house about 30 years, they said. They had been vacationing in southern New Mexico and decided to return home because it was too windy. The couple was driving back about 7 p.m. Sunday when a neighbor called and told them the Tascosita neighborhood behind their property was being evacuated.

The blaze raced northeast, forcing evacuations in the Woodlands, Westcliff, Cliffside Estates, Mesquite Acres, Tascosita and the Stoneridge neighborhoods and destroying the Culps' home, two homes in Tascosita and two in Westcliff.

Janet Culp said they arrived back in Amarillo about 11 p.m., but authorities stopped them from returning home. The couple stayed in a motel overnight.

City and county officials lifted the evacuation orders Monday morning and the Culps returned to their home, scorched brick walls and skeletal chimney stacks still standing.